Doctor Who - Paradise Towers [1987]

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Primary Contributor : Sylvester McCoy
Primary Contributor : Bonnie Langford

Product Details

Director : Nicholas Mallet
Actor : Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford, Richard Briers, Clive Merrison, Brenda Bruce
Format : HiFi Sound, PAL
Binding : VHS Tape
EAN : 5024165675168
Product Group : Video
Release Date : 1995-10-02
Running Time : 98minutes
Studio : 2 Entertain Video

ASIN : B00004CR46

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Customer Reviews

Campy, but still quite fun. (2005-12-21)

Maybe I'm letting nostalgia rule my opinion here, but I still find this story quite enjoyable. True, Bonnie Langford does little but wander about, and then is attacked by a huge bright yellow robotic crab she somehow failed to notice floating on the surface of a swimming pool. But the story has its moments, such as the Doctor outwitting his enemies by use of their own red tape, and the irony of the 'cowardly cutlet' Pex being the only one brave enough to stand up to the Great Architect. True, a lot of what could have been dark, serious drama is camped up. But the Dr Who series had recently been under fire for being too violent and gory. 'Paradise Towers' contains Nazi-type troopers, cannibalistic old ladies, cleaning robots who strangle people, street gangs and the theme of council tower blocks. If all this had been played as serious this story would probably have had more complaints from the TV 'watchdogs' than any of the more infamous Colin Baker stories. Whether you view 'Paradise Towers' as a laugh or not, it's still mostly entertaining.

Utter tosh (2004-01-02)

Michael Grade tried and failed to kill off Dr Who - or did he? All the evidence here is that he succeeded.

Naff characters, woeful acting, laughable special effects and an inept Doctor paired with BONNIE LANGFORD combine to make this one of the show's all-time turkeys. Why on earth was it made available on video? Surely people didn't want to watch it again?!

If they did, they were never real Doctor Who fans, as this is an example of the show at its worst in the post-Tom Baker years - at least the Davison era had some great stories, even if the Doc was not up to the old standard.

The horror of it all is summed up by Richard Briers - he's funnier here than in The Good Life, only it's unintentional. (Was this the worst ever supporting role in Doctor Who?)

All in all, total tripe - an embarrassment to a once-great show.

The idea is wonderful, the execution woeful (2003-11-08)

Inspired by J.G. Ballard's High Rise and with some witty inventiveness on the part of scriptwriter Stephen Wyatt, this story had a LOT of potential. Such bizarre concepts needed a nightmarishly realistic setting if they are to be taken seriously (ala. the film "Brazil"). The sets and costumes offered up here invoke an image of an "alternative" style panto, this undermining the effects striven for in the script.

During this era of Doctor Who, some stories were shot entirely on location. It's a shame Paradise Towers couldn't have been one of them. The combination of surreal characters set against a very real 90's concrete jungle could have been quite unsettling and also helped more people take this story seriously.

And Richard Briars should not have been cast as the Chief Caretaker. I know he can act very well in serious roles, something he does not do here.

Good story, poor production (spoilers) (2003-09-18)

After "Time and the Rani", script editor Andrew Cartmel came to Stephen Wyatt to pen Sylvester McCoy's second story as the Doctor. Devising a story set in a massive tower block, and drawing heavily from JG Ballard's novel "High Rise", Wyatt created a story that had alot of potential for a good social satire. Sadly what became "Paradise Towers" is let down by poor execution which fails to take advantage of the story's ideas.

Paradise Towers is a luxurious 304-story tower block designed by a non-human entity, the Great Architect Kroagnon. An arrogant and tyrannical being, Kroagnon refused to let anyone inhabit his creation. Unable to remove him or have him killed, the Tower's inhabitants encase him in the basement of his own creation, hastily leaving the building in order to go and fight a war. They evacuate the very young and very old people to live in the Towers indefinitely while the war is fought.

Hearing great things about the Towers, particularly it's swimming pool on the top floor, the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Mel (Bonnie Langford) decide to pay a visit. They find the place in disrepair and disorder. The rat-infested corridors are roamed by crossbow-toting street gangs called the Kangs; the apartments are inhabited by the Rezzies, canniballistic old women who jazz up their bland apartment existence by capturing and devouring anyone who crosses their path; the building is overseen by the caretakers, who hopelessy try to run the Towers behind a rulebook of inefficient bureaucratic regulations.

The sole outsider is Pex (Howard Cooke), a cowardly ex-soldier too scared to fight in the war. Meanwhile, Kroagnon, with the help of his deadly robotic cleaners is steadily plotting his escape...

The lighthearted almost comical approach to the story is dire, and reduces what could have been a great drama to the level of farce. The script leaves a couple of plot holes dangling and only towards the end does everything become completely coherent.

This has to be Bonnie Langford's worst story on "Doctor Who". Reduced to merely wandering around corridors and making, in light of what happens to her, unbelievably stupid decisions, she gives a very strained and unconvincing performance.

Howard Cooke (as Pex) and Richard Briers (as the Chief Caretaker) are also poor, not taking their roles seriously enough. It would have worked better had Pex been cast (as Wyatt intended) as a musclebound, Sly Stallone type. There were alot of pumped-up musclebound tough guys in cinema in those days, so to have one who was a coward would have been a novel twist.

On the plus side, McCoy is getting better (and less manic) as the Doctor and Brenda Bruce and Elizabeth Spriggs have the right amount of sinister relish as Rezzies Tilda and Tabby.

The sets are very good, but the lighting could have been more sinister and noirish in places. However, the special effects, especially the killer robots, are shoddy. The music isn't too bad though, and adds a bit of edge to the drama.

All in all, a good story with some excellent ideas. Later seasons would mould the mystery and satire presented here into much better stories.

This story is ice hot! (2003-02-22)

I love the McCoy era, and he is my favorite Doctor, and this is my all time favorite Doctor Who adventure. The story is very good, set in a huge towers block, called Paradise Towers! Young girls called Kangs roam the streets, Caretakers chase them and old women live in the towers and eat anything they can get there hands on! But there are huge cleaning robots after them, and the population is falling fast. Richard Briers puts in a good performance as the chief caretaker and does his best at sounding evil. The story has a good twist to it and as ever McCoy is on top form. But Mel is still screaming at every possible moment!

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